A point on Saturday evening would have been enough for Magura Cisnadie to seal their progression to the quarter-finals of the EHF European League Women 2021/22, but Storhamar Handball Elite claimed a comfortable 35:18 win against the Romanian side to stay in the race for a spot in the next round.
GROUP C
Storhamar Handball Elite (NOR) vs Magura Cisnadie (ROU) 35:18 (16:8)
- the Norwegian side took revenge for a 33:28 defeat in the opening group match
- the teams were level at 3:3 early in the match, but Storhamar then had a 4:0 run and did not give up their lead afterwards
- after five minutes of the second half, the hosts' advantage reached double figures at 19:9
- Magura only had a 49 per cent shot efficiency, as Dana Abed Kader was their top scorer with just four goals
- with one match to go, Storhamar and Magura are level on four points, but as the Norwegian side hold the head-to-head advantage, a win at Lada next week will secure them a quarter-final spot
Storhamar's two heroines
While the entire home team should be given a credit for their performance, two players made a special impact.
Goalkeeper Eli Marie Raasok stopped 62 per cent of shots in the first half and boasted a 50 per cent save rate at full-time, while world champion Emilie Hovden led by example in attack, scoring 13 goals.
Extremely proud of the team today. The collective preformed on the highest level. After a tough period of sickness due to Covid, we are back on the right track. (It is) important for us to maintain discipline after the break, especially in defence.
We played the worst game we have played in two years. I'm disappointed about the whole team, but we will be ready for the next game against Herning-Ikast.
